


Quietest

by Triscribe



Series: Smallest, Smartest, Youngest [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Space Illness, everybody gets sick in this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-21
Updated: 2017-10-21
Packaged: 2019-01-21 00:28:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12445338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Triscribe/pseuds/Triscribe
Summary: It was inevitable that a space virus should find its aboard the Castle, and now everyone is reacting to it in different, unpleasant ways: sneezing fits, dizziness, nausea, you name it, someone has it. Pidge alone seems minimally affected, with only a minor fever - but then things gets worse...





	Quietest

They figured Coran must have been the one to bring it aboard, as he was the first to fall ill. The Altean’s symptoms weren’t anything too serious, more like he’d just caught a mild cold. Allura was brought low by the same bug just as her advisor was on the mend, and despite being extra cautious the paladins all figured they were bound to be brought into contact with it as well.

None of them were expecting to all have such strong individual reactions, though.

Hunk startled everyone in the dining hall one morning when he sneezed so hard the floating plate in front of him shot away several feet. “Eh-heh, sorry,” the yellow paladin muttered, holding a hand over his nose as he went to find something to wipe up the mess with.

That was just the beginning.

Through the day, Hunk’s sneezes got continually worse, until Shiro ordered the boy into bed before his next one knocked him clear off his feet. That evening, Lance started coughing, and was also sent back to his room for when it inevitably became more serious.

When the new morning came, Shiro checked on both of them, noting that both teens were more exhausted than anything else thanks to their constant symptoms. Just to be on the safe side, he also poked his head into Pidge’s room, only to be waved back out with the assurance that she was fine. Keith, on the other hand, had developed some pretty serious nausea through the night, and wasn’t able to take more than three steps away from his room’s waste receptacle before needing to dive right back to it. Even if it was only dry heaving, the boy was miserable, so Shiro resolved to sit with him through the day.

Still getting over his own cold, Coran nonetheless made sure to check on them all, delivering tissues, broth and extra blankets as needed. Allura was pretty much bed-ridden by that point, and by the end of the day Shiro himself started to slow down as well. When it was discovered that he grew debilitatingly dizzy when standing, the moustachioed Altean shepherded him back to his own quarters too.

Pidge, displaying no obvious symptoms, took the time as an opportunity to continue her work on Rover 2.0, only emerging from her room to retrieve food and water when no one else was around. Over the course of three days, while the others all went through the high and low points of their illness, she made little effort to spend time with them, only calling out the occasional greeting when walking past bedroom doors.

Which was why the fourth day passed with none of the others concerned over not seeing their quietest paladin. Same for the fifth.

By the sixth day, Allura was sufficiently recovered enough to get out of bed, and gladly joined Coran in his rounds to check on the various humans. While he continued down the hall to Shiro’s room, though, she paused to knock on Pidge’s door.

There was no answer.

Slightly concerned, the princess went ahead and entered the room, expecting to either see Pidge in her usual state, or perhaps curled up in the nest of blankets on her bed.

Instead, the younger girl was sprawled on the floor, wracked by occasional spasms and barely breathing.

“CORAN! I need you here, NOW!” Allura’s panicked shout wound up drawing the others out of their rooms, too. Hunk and Lance were mostly recovered, whereas Keith and Shiro were much to headstrong to remain behind even if they were still sick.

“She’s burning up,” the princess informed them as soon as everyone was gathered together.

“Healing pods won’t do much good,” Coran said, frowning, his own gloveless hand resting on the girl’s forehead. From what he’d learned of human physiology, such a high degree   
of heat could do more harm than good. “We need to cool her down.”

“Cryopod?” Shiro swayed as he asked the question, hands firmly gripping the edge of the doorway to keep his balance.

“We’ll have to, I suppose. Come on now, Number Five, up you get.” Coran slipped his arms underneath Pidge, lifting her up with minimal effort. His frown deepened when she didn’t make so much as a whimper. “Does anyone know when she last ate or drank?”

Various negative answers were murmured, but he didn’t bother handing out any reprimands. It was his fault Pidge had been neglected, after all.

They all formed a meandering line to the hibernation room, where Coran quickly set up a cryopod. As soon as it was ready, they set Pidge inside, waiting anxiously as it sealed up on a setting meant to chill the occupant but not send them into hibernation.

“How long is she gonna have to stay in there?” Hunk asked, hands twisting the hem of his shirt.

“Hard to say, really. We’ll need to constantly monitor her temperature, possibly pull her in and out a few times so her body can still fight off the infection but not over-heat like that again. Now, I know at least two of you need to go back to laying down...”

Shiro and Keith, though, just retrieved what they needed to in order to set themselves up in the hibernation room. Lance and Hunk did, too, and though they shrugged at the odd behavior, Coran and Allura certainly weren’t going to argue against having all the ill paladins in one place together.

The first time they let Pidge out, she was only coherent enough to shiver and mumble that she was fine. Coran coaxed her into drinking a couple cups of water and a few sips of soup, then declared that she was growing too warm again and opened up the pod again.

They had to go through the same process several times, Pidge getting more awake each round. When Coran finally declared that it was safe enough for her to remain out of the cryopod, she set them all of chuckling with a grumbled ‘finally’. Even so, the group transitioned themselves to the living room as opposed to dispersing again.

“So,” Coran murmured when Pidge was settled on the sofa. “Next time you start to not feel good...?”

The girl huffed. “I’ll let someone know, I promise.”

“That’s all I ask.”


End file.
